When you start taking your photographs to the next level and consider your composition and framing more carefully, checking for leading lines, rule of thirds, symmetry, etc., a fun way to play with these concepts is through your perspective. And in this tip, I'm not talking about just your point of view, but that which is coming back to you in the form of a reflection. Reflections can be an exciting way to add to your story telling, or even be a consideration for the main event! Sometimes they can add to your photographs by accident, such as the reflected light in my swans photo, which in turn looks like a light reflection of the swan I was taking a picture of!

Look at how the light in the lower right appears to be a light reflection of the swan!

Or you might chance upon a reflection that makes itself known and almost shouts out at you to have its picture taken. Take advantage of these rare moments and make sure to capture them before the moment passes. Such is the case with the two photos below, when I was able to grab these wonderful shots just at the right moment and enhance the story through the reflection. And what better reflective surface than a mirror, what luck! :-)

And of course, reflections can be carefully planned to be a part or even a main aspect of the photograph. Make sure that when you have time to do so, to change your perspective by also moving around! Look at different angles and see how the subject and reflection interact. This is where a prime, or non-zoom, lens is helpful because it forces you to move if you want to zoom in or out. In doing so, you may find that the angle of the reflection is improved and you have a better shot than if you had just zoomed into your image.

Walk around and experiment with different angles and even distances.